Survivor: Blood vs. Water

Survivor: Blood vs. Water (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Survivor: Blood vs. Water is the twenty-seventh season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, which premiered on Wednesday, September 18, 2013. The season features returning castaways and their family members competing against each other. It is the third consecutive season, and the ninth season overall, to feature returning contestants. As with the previous two seasons, the season was filmed in the Philippines, but this time at Palaui Island, Cagayan.
The tribe names are Galang and Tadhana, which means "respect" and "destiny", respectively, in Tagalog.

A modified version of Redemption Island, a twist formerly seen in Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: South Pacific, was utilized after a three-season hiatus. In this season, remaining contestants may choose to switch places with their partner if their partner is on Redemption Island. The game began with a twist called Day Zero, in which each of the ten pairs was marooned in a separate location, spending the night together before congregating as a full cast the following morning and dividing into two tribes. Due to this twist, this season is one of two to last longer than 39 days, after Survivor: The Australian Outback which lasted 42.

Casting

This season's cast includes former NFL player Brad Culpepper, competing with his wife and Survivor: One World castaway Monica, and Big Brother 12 winner Hayden Moss, playing with his girlfriend Kat Edorsson, also from Survivor: One World. Moss is the first former Big Brother contestant to appear on Survivor.

Survivor: Philippines castaway Roberta "R.C." Saint-Amour and her father, Craig, were originally cast and traveled to the Philippines with the other castaways, but were pulled from the game the day before filming began due to Craig having high blood pressure. They were replaced by Candice Cody of Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and her husband, John.

Contestants

The contestants include 10 pairs of players, each composed of one new player and one returning player.

The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaway received during Tribal Councils where the castaway was eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.

^ Laura B. returned to the game after Rupert elected to take her place on Redemption Island. As a result, Laura B. replaced Rupert on Galang.

^ Three additional votes were cast against Brad during a tie-breaker vote.

^ One additional vote was cast against Ciera during a tie-breaker vote.

Episode 1: "Blood Is Thicker Than Anything"

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Six castaways from each tribe would race out into the ocean and over a set of three obstacles to a boat. They would then dive down to untie knots to free the boat. The castaways would paddle the boat back to shore and deliver a chest with three bags of puzzle pieces. The other three members of the tribe would then assemble the puzzle pieces into a ship's wheel which would be used to raise a flag. The first tribe to raise their flag would win.

Reward: Flint

The ten pairs of returning players and their loved ones were dropped off in ten separate locations as part of the Day Zero twist to spend the night together without a tribe. The next morning, Jeff welcomed the twenty castaways to the game and announced that they would not be playing the game with their loved ones, but against each other. The castaways split into their tribes and Jeff sprung a second twist on them that they would immediately vote out a member of their tribe. Tadhana voted out Laura B. while Galang voted out Candice. Jeff then announced that Redemption Island was back in play, but with a twist that the loved one of the castaway could switch places with them. Rupert immediately stepped forward to take his wife's place and she joined Galang. After discussing it between themselves, John did not switch with Candice. At their new campsite, Brad arranged an all-boy's alliance at Tadhana. At the Immunity Challenge, Gervase struggled with the swimming part of the challenge, giving Tadhana a huge lead at the end of the boat stage of the challenge. The lead was squandered during the puzzle stage as Laura M., Monica, and Tina worked efficiently to solve the puzzle to give Galang the win. Gervase's excessive celebration at the win did not go over well with Tadhana and that put a target on Marissa, despite her comments against her uncle's actions. The boy's alliance knew from day one that they wanted to vote out one of the women and was trying to decide between Katie, who was seen as ineffective at the puzzle stage of the challenge, and Marissa, who was guilty by association for Gervase's excessive celebration. In the end, the boy's alliance went with Marissa and she was blindsided by a vote of 8"1.

Episode 2: "Rule In Chaos"

Redemption Island Duel: The castaways would use a long pole to maneuver a wooden spool through a metal rod structure. They would then balance the spool on the top of the structure. The structure is mounted on a spring, so the structure would sway if the castaway touches the structure while maneuvering the spool, possibly toppling the spools from the top of the structure. The first two castaways to stack ten spools on top would remain in the game.

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Three castaways would roll a fourth castaways in a barrel to four platforms to retrieve four bags of balls. Once all of the bags were retrieved, the remaining castaways would roll the balls up a ramp and into six targets. The first tribe to have a ball in all six targets would win.

Reward: Fishing gear.

At Galang, Colton was unhappy that the tribe didn't want to talk strategy and seemingly not playing the game, so he tried to stir up trouble by telling various castaways that others were targeting them. However, the tribe saw through his attempts at stirring up trouble and wanted the camp to remain drama free. Aras, Gervase, Monica, Tina, and Tyson formed an alliance. Over at Tadhana, Rachel tried to secure her position among the men's alliance while Ciera tried to swing the vote to Rachel by suggesting to others that she had an alliance with John. At the first Redemption Island Duel, Jeff announced that the first finisher would be able to give a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol to any castaway of their choice. Candice and Rupert were close to finishing the Duel when Rupert's stack toppled over. Candice cruised to finishing first, while Rupert was unable to recover, allowing Marissa to continue on. Candice gave the clue to Hidden Immunity Idol to John. Back at camp, Vytas suggested to his alliance that they vote out Rachel in order to tempt Tyson into taking her place and weakening Galang in the process. John didn't want to vote out Rachel as if Tyson did switch at the Duel, it would mean more competition to Candice. The combined Reward/Immunity Challenge was closely fought with Galang edging out Tadhana. The next day, the guys went with Vytas' suggestion and sent Rachel to Redemption Island by a vote of 5"2"1.

Episode 3: "Opening Pandora's Box"

Redemption Island Duel: The three castaways would stack wooden blocks like a line of domino tiles while avoiding bars that would topple the tiles that were already stacked. Once all of the blocks were properly stacked, the castaway would start a chain reaction which would release a ball that would smash a plate. The first two castaways to break their plates would remain in the game.

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Facing off one-on-one, the castaways would battle sumo style using padded bags to try to knock their opponent off a platform and into the ocean to score a point for their tribe. The first tribe to five points would win.

At Galang, Colton was still upset that the other players were not strategizing with him and was scared about being voted off. When the tribes got to Redemption Island, Tyson saw through Tadhana's idea of weakening Galang by voting out Rachel so he could switch places with her. However, the couple agreed not to switch. Tyson then called out Brad for voting out Rachel, who fired back at the whole Galang tribe and stated that it was hard to vote out their fellow tribe members. But Brad was immediately rebuffed by Marissa, who said that Tadhana had voted out the two strongest women when they had the opportunity to vote out the weaker members of their tribe, making more sense and causing less tension. Brad told her that this was part of the game, but Marissa responded by cursing at him and leading Gervase telling her to calm down. Suddenly, Colton began to break down crying and told everybody that he wanted to quit. Jeff lambasted Colton for quitting, and even claimed that Colton faked appendicitis during Survivor: One World, making him a second time quitter. Colton denied this and then departed the game, leaving the castaways turned to the Redemption Island Duel. Candice took first place for the second time, while Marissa barely edged out Rachel after over 45 minutes of work. Candice gave John the second clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. At the Immunity Challenge, emotions were sometimes high during the challenge as loved ones faced off against each other. Brad defeated Gervase. Laura B. defeated Katie. John defeated Aras. Kat defeated Ciera. Hayden defeated Tyson, during which Tyson suffered a popped right shoulder. The Survivor Medical Team checked him out and he was cleared to remain in the game. Tina defeated Katie. Aras defeated Vytas. And finally Laura M. defeated Ciera to give Galang their third straight win. Back at camp, John lobbied to vote out Ciera as she didn't do as much work around camp as Katie. After John walked away, Brad proposed that they vote out John as Brad was worried that if Candice continued to win at Redemption Island, Brad would lose his control over John when Candice returned to the game. Brad organized the others to vote for John, but said that he didn't want to vote for John himself. Vytas and Hayden saw through Brad trying to get the tribe to do his dirty work and considered blindsiding Brad instead. However, at Tribal Council, they stuck to voting for John and he was blindsided by a vote of 6"1.

Episode 4: "One Armed Dude and Three Moms"

Redemption Island Duel: The castaways would maneuver a buoy along a rope twisted around a horizontal ladder. At the end of the rope, the castaway would untie a key from the buoy and use the key to unlock a bag of puzzle pieces. The first two castaways to solve their puzzle would remain in the game.

Reward/Immunity Challenge: The castaways would paddle out into the ocean to retrieve five crates tied to the bottom of the ocean. Once all five crates were returned to the beach, the castaways would use the crates to build a staircase. Two castaways would then solve a puzzle revealing the combination on a wheel that would lead them to a key. The key would unlock a handle to raise a flag. The first tribe to raise their flag would win.

When the castaways arrived at the Redemption Island Duel, there was still a lot of anger towards Brad with Candice flipping the bird at him. Candice, John, Brad, and Monica argued about who was responsible for the castaways being sent to Redemption Island. At the Duel, John came in first followed by Candice after Marissa faltered at the puzzle. At Candice's suggestion, John gave Monica the clue to the location of the Hidden Immunity Idol. However, at Brad's urging, Monica burned the clue in the ceremonial buff burning urn without looking at it. Back at the Tadhana camp, Brad started to feel the heat from his tribe members about continually voting out their loved ones, so he decided that Caleb should be the next to go since Colton had already quit the game. Caleb, Hayden, and Vytas agreed to vote off one of the girls, but were weary of being "Johnned" by Brad. They wanted to keep Brad into the merge as that would take the heat off them. Over at Galang, Gervase and Tyson formed an alliance since their loved ones were now out of the game. At the combined Reward/Immunity Challenge, Tadhana again got off to an early lead, but lost when Laura M. again beat out her daughter Ciera during the puzzle stage. When Tadhana returned to camp, the men went off to "get water", which meant they were going to strategize over whom to vote out. However, Brad lingered around camp and told the girls that he was going to vote for Caleb. Brad then joined the rest of the guys to get water, but his slowness in joining them made the men suspicious of a plot by Brad. After some discussion, Brad agreed to vote for Ciera. At Tribal Council, after Brad admitted that it would be easy to vote out somebody without a loved one on the other tribe, Caleb announced that he would be voting for Brad and that other men on his tribe could vote for whomever they wanted. Brad said that he would not vote for Caleb. After all votes were read, Brad and Ciera had each received 3 votes. On the revote, in which Brad and Ciera were ineligible to participate, Vytas changed his vote and Brad was sent to Redemption Island by a vote of 3"1.

Episode 5: "The Dead Can Still Talk"

Redemption Island Duel: The castaways would disassemble a crate and use the pieces to build a bridge. Once the bridge was complete, they would disassemble the bridge and use some of the pieces to solve a puzzle. The first two castaways to solve their puzzle would remain in the game.

Reward/Immunity Challenge: The castaways would face off one against one and slide down a water slide to retrieve a ring. They would then toss the ring onto a post to score a point for their tribe. The first tribe to score five points would win.

Reward: Steaks, vegetables, spices, and a wok. Tribe could also opt to win fishing gear.

Over at Tadhana, everybody in the tribe tried to figure out where Caleb stood after the surprise shift in power from the last Tribal Council. When the tribes got to Redemption Island, Monica asked Brad to let her take his place, but he refused. At the Duel, John took first place and Brad edged out Candice. John gave the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol to Monica, but she again burned it in the ceremonial buff burning urn. At the combined Reward/Immunity Challenge, Tadhana got their first win when they beat Galang 5"2. Back at camp, the alliance of Aras, Gervase, Monica, Tina, and Tyson were set to vote out Laura B. until Aras suggested that they pass on the easy vote and instead vote for Laura M. Aras thought that by voting out Laura M., she could defeat Brad at the Redemption Island duels and secure Monica's future loyalty in the game. At Tribal Council, the alliance went with Aras' plan and Laura M. was blindsided by a vote of 7"1.

Episode 6: "One-Man Wrecking Ball"

Redemption Island Duel: The castaways would race along a balance beam to collect four bags containing 100 numbered puzzle pieces. After a bag was collected, they would lay out the pieces in numerical order and then retrieve the next bag. The first two castaways to have all 100 pieces correctly placed would remain in the game.

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Working two at a time, the tribe would race out to a cage on the bottom of the ocean, untie knots to release a gate, and retrieve a fish trap. Once three traps were retrieved, two castaways would use puzzle pieces contained in the traps to assemble a puzzle. The first tribe to assemble their puzzle would win.

At Galang, Tyson and Gervase discussed how long they would wait until they took out Aras as they were concerned that Aras and Vytas would dominate the game after a tribal merger. At the Redemption Island Duel, Laura M. cruised to first place while second place was narrowly taken by John over Brad. Laura M. gave the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol to Vytas, but he immediately burned the clue. After Laura M. and John left the Redemption Island Arena, Jeff announced that there would be a tribal switch and that they would draw buffs for new tribes. The new Galang became Kat, Katie, Laura B., Monica, Tina, and Vytas while the new Tadhana became Aras, Caleb, Ciera, Gervase, Hayden, and Tyson. At the combined Reward/Immunity Challenge, Laura. B and Tina nearly threw away the challenge when they failed to remember to bring back the first fish trap. Tina nearly redeemed herself when she and Monica made up a lot of ground during the puzzle stage, going so far as thinking they had completed the puzzle twice, but Tadhana persevered and took the win. Back at camp, the women agreed to vote out Vytas, but Kat became irritated at Monica talking strategy too much and approached Tina about voting out Monica instead. Tina became concerned about Kat's loyalty and told Monica and Vytas about Kat's suggestion. Monica confronted Kat about it, but Kat denied that she had put Monica's name out for possible votes. Monica decided that she need to strike back at Kat and tried to round up votes against Kat. At Tribal Council, Kat pleaded for the tribe to keep her in the game and continued to deny that she suggested Monica be voted out. Vytas took the opportunity to deflect the vote away from him by pointing out that he was open and honest with the tribe while Kat was not. When the vote came, the women decided to vote out Kat and she was sent to Redemption Island by a vote of 5"1.

Episode 7: "Swoop In For The Kill"

Redemption Island Duel: The castaways would untie a series of knots to release a machete. They would then use the machete to cut a rope which would release a bag of puzzle pieces. The pieces would then have to be assembled into a puzzle the shape of a flame. The first two castaways to solve their puzzle would remain in the game.

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Four castaways would be chained together by their ankles and have to navigate through an obstacle course to collect bags of balls and chains. Once all the bags were collected, one castaway would assemble the balls and chains into bolas to be used in a game of ladder toss. The first castaway to get three of their bolas onto the ladder would win for their tribe.

At the Redemption Island Duel, Kat broke down after she entered the arena. Hayden said that his relationship with Kat was more important than the game. Jeff told him to prove it by putting him on the spot to switch with Kat. After Kat told Hayden that he had a better chance of winning the game, they did not switch. John cruised to victory in the duel, while Laura M. beat out Kat to take second place. John gave the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol to Monica who continued the practice of burning it. At the Tadhana camp while Aras was away, Tyson organized the ouster of Aras and the group of Caleb, Ciera, Gervase, Hayden, and Tyson agreed to go to the final five together. The combined Reward/Immunity Challenge was a close competition with the tribes tied throughout the challenge until Tyson edged out Tina during the ladder toss stage to give Tadhana their third straight victory. Back at the Galang camp, Laura B. took it upon herself to tell Vytas that he was going to be voted out next as she thought it would be the honorable thing to do. However, the other women did not look kindly upon Laura B. speaking for the girls alliance without consulting the alliance first. Monica felt that she couldn't trust Laura B. while Tina was concerned about Laura B.'s unpredictability. At Tribal Council, the tribe debated voting out Vytas or Laura B. When the vote came, the women turned against Laura B. and she was blindsided by a vote of 4"1.

^ The first Tribal Council Vote resulted in a tie. Per the rules, a second vote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those who tied.

^ Brad and Ciera were not eligible to vote in the second Tribal Council vote.